A Taste of Pumpkin Spice Latte
by Stories by Neri
Summary: A compilation of Fox/Sage one-shots, mostly written Tumblr requests, now available here. AUs abound. You can thank user myblackcrimsonrose for the ship. Varying genres per chapter, but romance is pretty consistent.
1. Selfies Smellfies

Prompt: "I sent a selfie of myself in the tub to the wrong number and you responded back with another selfie. Holy shit you're really attractive."

Genre(s): Humour

* * *

><p>Midterms were a hell of a stress load.<p>

Fox had finished his last one that day, and was now easing himself into the tub. He clenched at the hot water, but sighed with relief as he let the heat sink into him, releasing the tension.

The tub water was filled with bubbles and scents that were washing away the anxieties he had felt for the past couple of weeks. Fox never had baths like this, as showers were good enough for him until he met Coco. The first time she visited his place she was completely blown away by how untidy his den was (it left him wondering if she had met any other college students before.)

Since then, she would always show him new soaps and scents that she found before "forgetting" them as she left. Fox was annoyed at first, but when he confronted her about it she pretended not to have a clue on what he was talking about, _"but you can keep those anyways, I have plenty of my own."_

So Fox was left with a shelf full of bath salts and perfumes, some of which featuring the most ridiculous names he'd ever heard of _(Aftertaste of Yule Log_ sounded like something he'd clean a toilet with) but Fox didn't mind some of them. The ones that didn't suffocate his nasal passages were actually pretty nice, even if the scents didn't match the name. He had a fancy bottle of _Rosemary and Time* _as well as _Paprika Dance_ sitting out on the edge of the tub. He thought it was stupid to put them in such decorative little bottles, but figured that's what made them more marketable.

Plus, they did make for great selfies, which Fox felt obligated to take for Coco to show that he was actually using her "gifts."

He reached up to grab his phone, figuring there was no time like the present to satisfy his friend with one of his bath selfies. Coco openly drooled at a lot of her male friends, raising a lot of questions and eyebrows. Fox was indifferent towards it all.

The camera opened on his phone, and he posed as best as he could, making sure the bottles were in view. After flicking some of his hair away he pressed click, and then texted the photo to Coco.

Placing the phone down on the edge of the tub, Fox let himself relax for the few minutes it took before the vibration alerted him of the reply.

He did not expect what was on the screen.

Fox was staring at a picture of a man. Not just any man, but a naked man. Not just any naked man, but a naked man in a tub. Not just any naked man in a tub, but a man with a number identical to Coco's, minus the last two digits being switched. Fox may be studying Calculus but the odds of this happening seemed unfathomable.

Although Fox had to give it to this guy, he was… pretty fine.

Another message from Hairy-chest Tub-man popped up.

_[I'd have a glass of wine to swish but as a matter of fact I finished the bottle of last night. Caught me with my pants down.]_

Fox rapidly punched in letters to reply back to him.

_{that was for my friend asswipe!}_

_[You have a friend named asswipe?]_

Teeth grinded. Who was this guy, trying to be cute about all this?

_{classic comeback there}_

_{while my friend can be an asswipe, thats not her name}_

_{no that you need to know that, your just a wrong number i sent my selfie too}_

_[Nah, I'm just your chance bathtub encounter. I'll be on my way now, to sitting here more. Say hi to Asswipe for me.]_

Fox huffed, slamming the phone down. Good riddance to that guy, and his annoying cool attitude, his ridiculous wit and his fine jawline.

Fox's hand slithered over the phone. He gently turned it over, and scrolled back up to the stranger's selfie, more slowly observing his manly, chiseled face and abs of cheese-grater quality.

He wouldn't mind an aftertaste of _that._

_{whoa whoa whoa i didnt mean get lost bc i wouldve said that, trust me}_

_{whats your name btw}_

The phone was set down, but no immediate reply came. Fox wondered if he actually screwed it up with the hot tubber. Coco always told him that his running mouth would leave him alone with 6 cats, but he didn't think that to be _true._

A buzz crashed his train of thought, and Fox practically tossed up the phone.

_[Sage. Probably sounds good next to your Rosemary and Time there. Classy btw.]_

_[What's yours?]_

Fox grinned; he actually got a name out of the guy, and a number technically. Coco was going to riot later.

He paused a moment before carefully replying,

_{classwipe. when i met asswipe i almost shit myself}_

_{jk don't you dare call me that i s2g}_

_{im fox}_

* * *

><p>Notes: "Time" was intentionally spelled that way for the sake of poetically named fragrances.<p>

Additionally, any typos in the text speak are left in for the sake of realism, which probably goes without saying.


	2. Blood Stains

Prompt:_ "_I drunkenly tried to fight you and knocked myself out but you were kind enough to take care of me till I woke up."

Genre(s): Primarily Hurt/Comfort with Angst and Humour on the side

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><p><em>"Hahahaha! Holy shit that guy is wasted out of his mind!"<em>

_"Even I've never been that far gone."_

_"Who is this kid anyways? He looks our age."_

_"Guys leave him alone… he's gonna have it bad enough—enough when he wakes up tomorrow morning."_

_"Tch, I don't think—hey what the fuck?"_

_"He just threw a bottle at you!"_

_"Hey, you little punk! You wanna go?!"_

_"Guys, stop—"_

_"Sage, don't get in the way, this… this is my destiny…"_

_"Holy shit Scarlet you're pretty fucked up yourself."_

_"Hey man, just calm down… no I don't hate you just… whoa, hey, watch out—"_

The morning hit Fox like a train. The minute he woke up his stomach flipped, and he threw up over the… what was he leaning on?

A couch. Oh okay.

Wait. This wasn't his couch. And that wasn't his towel on the floor. But that was his puke on the towel. He owed someone an explanation now.

Fox wiped his mouth, kind of grateful that his shirt was filled with dirt and sweat already. And… blood? Oh no. Whose blood was that? And this was the shirt Velvet got him for Christmas last year. Coco was gonna be pissed.

He dragged his hand down his face as if he could wipe off how gross he felt, but no. He still felt like the foul aftertaste of alcohol and poor life choices. The migraine was still there too, and damn was it hurting. Everyone assumed he was blind when they saw him, and for once they might be right, as he fought to blink through the pain of his pounding brain.

His hand masking his face, Fox peered around the room between two of his fingers. It looked like his dorm room, but almost everything about it was off.

This isn't my room.

He almost slapped himself for thinking that now.

A vibration was felt from his back pocket, and he muttered some curses under his breath as he pulled out his phone. He was greeted with a too-bright screen filled with a dozen "where are you?!" messages from Yatsuhashi. Some other recent notifications started bringing him down memory lane, and he cursed a little louder.

Fox tried to remember through his blinding headache what part of last night got him into some stranger's room when he noticed a glass of water on the table next to him. The glass seemed untouched, probably left in wait for him. Whoever lived here was probably the patron saint of people who go three sheets to the wind.

Fox sat up a bit so he could properly take a sip into the glass, swished it around, and then spat into the towel. Normally he'd gargle into the sink of course, but there was no saving that towel, and no one was around.

"Pleasant."

But of course there's was always someone around. That was just the kind of luck Fox had.

"Like I could spit out something that make it'd look prettier," Fox snapped, then looked up to who he guessed was his saviour. He widened his eyes; he didn't his joke to be about someone who looked like—or rather, was shaped like—a divine creation. That was a body you'd see in Rennaisance paintings all right.

However, seeing his face resulted in some cringe-worthy flashbacks. Fox once again felt his hand climbing up his face, shielding him from the eyes of the world. Or rather, the eyes of someone who was not only a witness to him making an utter jack-ass of himself, but also took it upon himself to clean up after Fox.

"Are you housekeeping or do I need to toss you 10 bucks for the towel?"

"If I were housekeeping I'd make you do it anyways," came the cool response. A bag was dropped onto the floor, and the guy looked up at the clock. "11 hours of sleep. Feel good?"

Fox looked up. It was 1 in the afternoon.

"No," Fox quipped, then took another gruesome swig of water. "Who the hell are you, anyways?"

The abrasiveness did not break the stone look on this newcomer's face. "My name's Sage. And you are?"

"…Fox."

Sage nodded. It was quiet, until Sage took it upon himself to sit at the other end of the couch, mindful of Fox's feet.

"Do you remember anything that happened last night?"

"I remember being more of an idiot than I usually am, yeah."

"Specifically?"

"Getting into a fight and spilling some blood, apparently," Fox said, pointing out his shirt. He could see Sage fighting off a grin. "What?"

"You're half right."

"What?"

Sage poked into the dark stain. "That's your blood. You tried to charge at me but tripped over your own feet and ran headfirst into a door. You knocked yourself right out and some blood dripped from your nose and got on yourself."

It took Fox a minute to process that, what with his fatigue and all, before suddenly feeling the need to throw up again but instead burying his face into the couch.

"Please don't do to my couch what you did to my towel."

"Shut up about the damn towel, I'm kind of dying inside right now. In more ways than one, too!"

Sage just gave him a patronizing clap on the shoulder. Fox wanted to flip him off.

"Sorry about my friends, by the way," Sage added.

"Those antagonizing assholes?"

Sage let out a chuckle, "yeah them. They're not usually so bad though. My friend Scarlet—he's in the room behind us, actually—he went through something pretty rough, so we all kind of just tried to cope together, for him."

Fox nodded, vaguely remembering a guy in red stumbling half as much as Fox did.

"What about you?"

"Hn?"

Fox removed his face from the couch to look at Sage. He barely knew this guy, yet he seemed so… concerned for Fox? What was his deal?

"I imagined if Scarlet could get plastered for a good reason, you could too. There had to be something causing you to stumble around the res hallways last night."

Fox swallowed, the taste in his mouth still bitter, as he thought about the message on his phone.

_»Im sorry, I just dont think we can be friends anymore_  
><em>»Your anger is just ridiculous and honestly how can anyone tolerate you that way?<em>  
><em>»Its a miracle you still have a job<em>

Fox tuned back into reality to find Sage rubbing his shoulder. It felt… good. He couldn't remember things exceptionally clearly but he figured Sage was the least plastered last night. Maybe he didn't drink a damn thing, and just wanted to look out for his three idiot friends. Judging from what he already said, he sounded like that kind of friend; the designated driver of a drunken clown car.

So he's probably used to dealing with something like this.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Fox only realized then that he was out of it for a good five minutes with Sage just sitting there, rubbing his shoulder while he spaced out like an idiot. But Fox really didn't want to talk about it anyways, so he just nodded.

Nonetheless, he appreciated the gestures, and the words.


End file.
